


ain't nothin' better than falling in love

by advantagetexas



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/M, am i proud trash? also yes, am i trash for this? yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 14:29:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7365199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/advantagetexas/pseuds/advantagetexas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were many things about her job that Ms. Mei-Ling Zhou (or just Ms. Mei to her students) loved about her job. She loved the bright happy atmosphere that Overwatch Academy had, she loved the beautifully kept campus grounds, and hey, private school teaching paychecks were pretty nice too. The one thing she did NOT enjoy about her job, though, was sharing a classroom wall with Mr. Fawkes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. stop setting my room on fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MimiRoar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiRoar/gifts).



There were many things about her job that Ms. Mei-ling Zhou (or just Ms. Mei to her students) loved about her job. She loved the bright happy atmosphere that Overwatch Academy had, she loved the beautifully kept campus grounds, and hey, private school teaching paychecks were pretty nice too. The one thing she did NOT enjoy about her job, though, was sharing a classroom wall with Mr. Fawkes.

CRASH!

Something in the other room made a horrendous noise, shaking the partition wall just as Mei was finishing up her lesson, making her and all her students jump in their seats. She sighed to herself as the fire alarm went off. Again. For the 3rd time. Today.

“Stay in your seats, everyone,” she said, waving down a few concerned students who were already halfway out of their chairs. “I’m sure it’s just one of Mr. Fawkes’s experiments blowing up in his face again. I’ll go make sure he hasn’t set the school ablaze. Again.”

“Nǐ zhège báichī,” she mumbled to herself, walking the short distance down the hall and throwing open the slightly charred and blackened door. Mr. Fawkes was standing at the front of the room, his students all clustered around him while he wiped soot off of his face and off the collar of his slightly unbuttoned dress shirt. He still had on that annoying Cheshire grin that she, for some reason, couldn’t bring herself to entirely hate. He wasn’t a bad man, not really. Just…not very concerned with cause and effect, you could say. But he wasn’t stupid, either (he’d made his own prosthetic limbs, for god’s sake), so he should know that blowing things up and disrupting her class was entirely rude.

“Sorry love, got a bit carried away!” he said with an apologetic smirk in her direction. She folded her arms over her chest and huffed angrily.

“Zhècì bùxíng! Stop blowing things up during my class hours! My poor students are going to end up with some sort of anxiety disorder from learning in this…this warzone!” Now, normally Mei wasn’t an angry person. She really wasn’t. In fact, she’d won “Most Polite Teacher” at the Board of Ed’s joke award ceremony for the last three years, but this was going too far for her to remain passive. It was starting to involve her students, the ones she raised and nurtured and loved like her own children, and that was just unacceptable. Mr. Fawkes’s face fell, and he actually seemed…sorry?

“Alright kiddos, pack it in for today. We’ll be doing some book work for the rest of class,” he said, tossing the remains of whatever had exploded onto his desk.

“Aw, but Mr. Jamie,” one ginger girl complained loudly, amid the myriad of groans, “You promised that we could test the rest of our rockets today!”

“Righto, dearie,” Mr. Fawkes agreed, “but I’m sure Ms. Zhou’s class would like to learn too. What is it today, Ms. Zhou?” he said, turning back toward her place in the doorway. “Advanced chemical concepts, if I remember correctly.”

“Yes, that is what I was _trying_ to teach. And if you’ll excuse me, I should get back to my class.”

“Wait just a second,” Mr. Fawkes said, almost tripping over his desk to follow her out into the hall. She turned and waited for him, having to look way up to look him in the eye. Even with his bad habit of slouching all the time he was over a full foot taller than her. “I just wanted to apologize,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding her strong gaze. “This whole fancy teachin’ thing ain’t exactly my bowl of rice, and sometimes I forget I’m not back in the wilds where I can blow up whatever I want and not bother anyone. ‘Specially not conchy gals like yourself.”

“I appreciate the apology, Mr. Fawkes-“

“Oh, please,” he interjects before she can continue, “You can call me Jamie. Or Jamison. Whichever one you like!”

“Right, Jamison. I appreciate the apology, but you never seem to _change_ your behavior,” she says with a motherly tut, unafraid to tell the man exactly what she thought of him. He seemed to shrink at her words, somehow seeming small even with his large stature.

“I know. I do tend to lair it up a little too often, I promise I’ll at least try to cut down on the number of explosions, yeah?” he offers, as if it’s some sort of middle ground. Mei just sighs, putting a hand to her temple. Talking with this man was starting to give her a headache. Or maybe it was just the fumes emanating from his classroom. Jamison seemed to notice them at the same time she did just before a thick cloud of black smoke started to billow out from the sides of the door.

“Annabeth, I told you we weren’t testing those today!” he yelled, stumbling back into his classroom just as a sound suspiciously like a bottlerocket hitting a chalkboard resounded through the door.

*                 *                   *                   *

*                       *                      *

Mei sat down at her desk the next day, expecting to find it as empty and pristine as she’d left it the day before, but instead finding it smudged with what looked like engine grease but with a beautiful bouquet of metal roses in a pretty blue vase in the center. Just as the clock chimed 7, the flowers begun to tick and tock, opening their petals to full bloom in mere seconds. They were beautiful, some of the most beautiful flowers, let alone machines, that Mei had ever seen. The petals themselves were each painstakingly shaped to the point where they almost looked real. Underneath the vase was a post it note written in scrawled handwriting and covered in black fingerprints. “Sorry my manners went walkabout, hopefully these can convince you I’m not so bad.”

“Nǐ zhège báichī,” she whispers to herself, but less harshly than usual. They really were quite beautiful, even if they were slightly greasy.

She moved the vase to the corner of her desk, and put the note (adorned with a little smiley face with wild, fiery hair) in the top drawer of her desk. Not for sentimental purposes or anything, just simply for remembering to thank Mr. Fa- well, _Jamison_ later. He really wasn’t as bad as he seemed.


	2. please stop setting my heart on fire

“G’afternoon Ms. Zhou,” Jamison says politely, sitting down next to Mei as she’s eating her lunch in the teacher’s cafeteria. He seems to have some sort of…is that a sandwich? It’s dripping something green and it seems vaguely soggy, but he takes a bite out of it like it’s nothing.

“Good afternoon Jamison,” she replies, giving him a smile and a polite nod. His face seems to brighten up at that, and he practically hums as he tears off another bite of his lunch.

“D’jya hear the news about the office?”

“About the office?” Mei asks, confused. “No, I hadn’t heard anything in relation to the office.” Jamison’s face scrunches up for a second before he realizes the problem.

“Ah, no. Not what I meant. I meant the news that’s been going ‘round the office. As in, like, gossip.”

“Oh! I have heard a bit of it,” she admits, “Something about cross-platform teaching?”

“Righto. They want us to include other disciplines in our teaching style. Buncha bollocks, really. How am ‘pposed to fit an English lesson into my shop class?”

“Oh, I’m sure there’s a bunch of subjects that fit in with shop!” Mei enthuses, putting down her fork and turning to gesture at Jamison with her hands. “You were building bottle rockets the other day, yes? That requires a lot of computer design, you could work with Mr. Morrison for a day or two!”

“Yeah, but that bloke is a drongo if I’ve ever met one. Probably wouldn’t even give me the time of day.”

“Well…you did blow up his car that one time…”

“That was _one_ time!”

“Well, what about Reyes? He seems nice enough, and maybe his auto program kids could work with yours?” Mei offers again, seeing something like fear flash up in his eyes.

“Uhh, no. That guy kinda creeps me out. Plus, he’s always hanging out with Morrison, so he probably wouldn’t agree to it either.” Mei couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that one. ‘Hanging out’ with Morrison. Yeah, sure. Because that’s what people that are married do, they ‘hang out’. Wǒ de tiān nǎ, Jamie, get it together.

“Well…” she said, thinking it over a little. It might be interesting for her students to give it a go. “Maybe we could do a class? Together?” Jamison looked like he was looking at a pile of gold when she said that, the shock clear on his face.

“Really? You’d teach a class with me?”

“Suān, I don’t see why not. On _several_ conditions,” she adds hastily when she sees a mischievous smile spread across his face. “No blowing _anything_ up. No dangers to my students. And we actually have to _teach_ the children something. Lǐjiě?”

“Absolutely! You and me are gonna go far with this, Snowball.”

Snowball? What kind of a nickname was that? Just because her degree was in climatology that doesn’t mean…oh, what’s the point. He’d probably just come up with something more stupid anyway. Nǐ zhège báichī.

*                 *                   *                   *

*                       *                      *

“And that is why pure potassium and water react violently,” Mei finishes, pointing to the chalkboard that Jamison had wheeled out for her, and looking out across the 30 or so kids who were sitting cross-legged on the courtyard grass. They seemed to be looking attentively at her, which was good. Maybe they were actually learning something. Wait, no, they weren’t looking at her, they were looking _behind_ her. She turned around, ducking to look under the chalkboard and seeing a pink kiddie pool filled with water just sitting there on the ground. No, no, no, méiyǒu tā mā de. Not happening.

“Mr. Fawkes!” she yelled, rounding the chalkboard and catching him in the act, with the potassium poised to drop into the pool. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uh, ha ha, a uh, a live demonstration?” he said sheepishly, backing away from the pool slightly. Mei could hear the students getting up and wandering over to see what all the commotion is about.

“We agreed no explosions! This is highly unsafe! You’re not even wearing real pants!” she said, gesturing to the shorts he was wearing.

“I’ve already got one metal leg, love, that’s already half safe enough,” he answers nonchalantly, gesturing widely with one hand. The hand holding the potassium. Over the water. Where it just so happens to slip out of his grasp. There’s about a full second where they both realize what’s happening. Jamison backs away, but Mei dives to catch the fist sized rock of metal. She just manages to catch it before it hits the water, but can’t stop herself from falling forward. She manages to toss the metal away just before landing face down in the pool full of water.

It’s not the laughter of the students that’s the worst thing about this situation, or even being soaked in ice cold water. No, it’s the betrayal she feels that’s the worst thing. They had agreed no explosions, and yet here she was, drenched from trying to prevent an explosion. Nǐ zhège báichī. She honestly almost wanted to cry as Jamison helped her up out of the water. He looked at her for a second, and then his eyes widened as he fumbled with the buttons to his shirt.

“Here, put this around you,” he said, taking off and handing her the black button up. “Um, how can I put this eloquently? You’ve got on a white blouse, love.”

“Nǐ shì zuì chà de. Wèishéme wǒ céngjīng xiāngxìn nǐ bùshì huǐle ma?” She spat angrily in his direction, taking the shirt in a huff. As much as she hated it, she could feel tears rising in her eyes. Jamison seemed to notice that too, moving a hand up to her face to dry them.

“I don’t need your pity,” she said, slapping his hand away before storming off.

“Man, you really fucked this one up, didn’t you, Mr. Jamie?” she could hear one of the students ask quietly. Yes, child. Yes he did.


	3. all thats left to do is burn, baby, burn, baby, burn

It had been a few days since the, well, since the _incident_ , and things were almost back to normal. Well, at least on Mei’s end of things they were back to normal. She’d begun to eat her lunches in her classroom, though, with the door locked. She had no desire to talk to Mr. Fawkes right now, but that was all he seemed to want to do. Ostensibly to “apologize”, but she wasn’t in the mood for his promises to change that never happened.

Of course, that couldn’t last forever. She’d had to make copies for her next block and the school only had one working copier this week. It was just her luck that Mr. Fawkes had also needed to make copies, wasn’t it?

He walked into the room, making a short gasp of realization when he realized she was there. She thought about leaving, pushing past him and just picking up her copies later, but he was so tall that he practically blocked the entire doorway. She couldn’t get out without physically pushing him over.

“So, Ms. Zhou,” he started, quieter and less bombastic than usual. His eyes looked red around the edges. Had he been crying recently?

“Mr. Fawkes,” she said coolly, leaning on the printer behind her, arms folded over her chest.

“Ouch, that smarts, love,” he said with a wince. “I um, I know you really don’t want to hear an apology from me right now. Probably wouldn’t think it was sincere.” Got that one right, nǐ zhège báichī. “But here, take a look at this,” he said, handing her the sheet he’d come in to copy.

It was a class request list for the next semester. They were supposed to order things that they’d need for class; paper, pencils and what not. This one actually seemed quite standard, nothing out of the ordinary about it.

“Suǒyǐ? Why are you showing me this?” She asked, handing the paper back to him. He just pushed it back into her hands.

“Take another look, love.”

It was just simple things like paper and ink, what was he…Oh. It was _just_ simple things like paper and ink. He must have seen the realization on her face, because he cleared his throat.

“Not a single combustible or dangerous chemical on that list. I uh, I really am trying this time, so I hope you’ll believe I’m sincere when I say that I truly am sorry. I took advantage of your trust to do something stupid, and I promise it will _never_ happen again.”

“Nǐ zhēnguì de nánrén, did you do all this for me?” Mei said, trying to hide a tiny smile. Jamison grinned back at her, that same Cheshire grin but somehow different this time. Softer, maybe?

“Sort of. Working so closely with you made me realize what a right fruit loop I’d been. And not a very good teacher, either. Decided that I should probably change that.”

*                 *                   *                   *

*                       *                      *

“You sure I have to dress like this? I look like someone dressed up a monkey,” Jamie complains, pulling at the collar of his shirt as Mei was trying to tie his tie.

“Jìngzhǐ bùdòng! I’m almost done, just wait!” Mei says, finally getting the knot in place. “There, now you look almost presentable. Too bad you won’t let me do something with that hair,” she adds with a laugh, reaching up on her tip toes to ruffle the blonde mess that he called a hairstyle.

“Hey! My hair is perfectly fine, thank you! I draw the line at turning me into some dandy in a suit,” he laughs, then pauses for a second, his face suddenly changing to one of doubt. “Are you sure all this is going to make me a better teacher, Snowball?”

“Shì, definitely. Much more professional. Might even catch the eye of Ms. Zaryanova if you’re lucky,” Mei adds with a conspiratorial wink.

“Zarya? The gym teacher? She could crush my head like a grape in two seconds flat!”

“Yes, but she’s a very pretty woman. Would ask her out myself, but Satya would probably kill me. Or at least be very sad, and I don’t want that. You could try, though.”

“Eh, she’s not really my type,” Jamie said with a dismissive hand wave.

“What? Not your type? She’s beautiful! If she isn’t your type then what is?” Mei was actually a little bit shocked. It was pretty much universally agreed that Ms. Zaryanova was the prettiest teacher on campus by far, Jamie couldn’t have standards higher than _that_ , could he?

“Well, I mean…” Jamie trailed off, embarrassed, but Mei wasn’t going to let him get away with this one.

“Oh no, you can’t say some fēngkuáng de gǒu shǐ like that and not explain.”

“I like short girls,” he says with a sigh, covering his face with his hands. “And like, _soft_ girls. Nice ones that know when to be kind and when to be mean. Ones that know exactly what to say to make you feel better, and that are really committed to their jobs. Ones that take care of their students like their own kids,” he trails off toward the end, getting quiet and laughing mirthlessly before continuing, “Girls named Mei-Ling Zhou.”

“Jamie,” Mei starts to talk, almost stuck for words. Her voice seems to snap him out of his reverie, and he resumes his previous bombastic tone, but this time it seems forced, like a mask.

“Welp, looks like it’s time for me to head to my own class, love, thanks for helping me!” he says stiffly, before all but running out the door. Ugh, just like him to say something so…so nice, but so emotional and then just leave without saying another word about it. Zhēnguì de báichī nánrén.

*                 *                   *                   *

*                       *                      *

It was almost an hour past the time school ended now, and yet he still hadn’t showed up. Mei knew for a fact that the driver’s ed teacher drove Jamie home most days, and she knew for a fact that this was his motorcycle. Just as she was getting ready to give up, she heard his voice echo around the parking garage.

“Oi, fuck off, Hog! I am not some “little soft baby boy”!”

The other person said something that Mei couldn’t hear, but apparently Jamie took high offense to.

“Just because I’m slightly less abrasive after talking to her ain’t a bad thing! Probably would have been useful after I blew up Morrison’s ca-“he trails off suddenly, seeing Mei sitting over the side of the sidecar. “Hey, Hog, fuck off for a few minutes? No, like, actually fuck off, not a metaphor.”

“Jamison Fawkes!” Mei starts, striding up to him and pointing a finger into his chest. “How dare you?”

“How dare I what, Ms. Mei?” he says, trying to seem innocent of any crime. It was actually kind of cute.

“How dare you toy with my emotions like that? Saying something like you did this morning and then not being around all day! Wú lǐ!”

“I…I didn’t know what you’d think of me after that. I just didn’t want to…” he paused, looking for the right words. Mei jumped up, putting one hand on either side of his face and dragging him down to her level, then pressing her lips against his. He pulls back almost immediately, and she lets him go, a little bit disappointed. Maybe she’d misread the signs?

“You…you sure that was what you wanted to do, Snowball?” he says, almost dazed, a big grin across his face.

“Yes! Why would I do that if I didn’t want to?” Jamie leaned down again, this time putting one hand on the side of her face, and then kissed her again, hungrily, as if his life depended on it. Mei could feel her heart start to beat faster and faster, heat radiating out from her chest.

“Nǐ zhège báichī,” Mei whispers, pulling away after almost a solid minute.

“What’s that mean, love?” Jamie asks, pulling her into a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She can’t help but start to giggle at the question.

“’Idiot man’,” she replies, which makes both of them start laughing like children.

**Author's Note:**

> guess who was secretly meihem trash the whole time guysss, it was me


End file.
